Sepp Kuss crashes out in Tour of Burgos opening stage, Pavel Bittner takes the lead

Pavel Bittner Wins Opening Stage of Tour of Burgos in Sprint Finish

Pavel Bittner secured victory in the first stage of the Tour of Burgos in a sprint finish. Despite crashing in the final phase, Sepp Kuss managed to complete the race.

With the Olympic road races concluded, cyclists are now turning their attention to upcoming major events, particularly the Vuelta a España, which begins next Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal. As a key preparation race for this grand tour, the Tour of Burgos is also underway in Spain.

The five-day race features notable participants such as Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), many of whom are eyeing strong performances in the Vuelta a España, especially after recovering from injuries or illnesses.

The first day of the Tour of Burgos covered a relatively flat 168-kilometer stage, concluding in Burgos. Early on, three riders—Rodrigo Alvarez (Burgos-BH), Iker Mintegi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti-Kometa)—broke away. Teams Jayco AlUla and Tudor led the peloton, working for sprinters Caleb Ewan and Marius Mayrhofer.

Riding in temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius, the peloton maintained a steady pace toward the finish. This is significant as the Vuelta will soon pass through some of Spain’s hottest cities, Cordoba and Sevilla, in mid-August.

A crash occurred 34 kilometers from the finish involving Enekoitz Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Mulu Kinfe Hailemichael (Caja Rural-Seguros RCA). Kuss had to switch bikes, and it was later confirmed that he and Javier Romo (Movistar) had also fallen but managed to continue.

As the team leader recovered at the back, his teammates increased the pace at the front to avoid further danger, reeling in the last breakaway riders just over twelve kilometers from the finish. Max Poole then captured a few seconds in an intermediate sprint.

In the final five kilometers, marked by numerous roundabouts, dsm-firmenich PostNL maintained control before Groupama-FDJ took over with a thousand meters remaining. Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar) made an early move, but it was Pavel Bittner who emerged victorious with a powerful sprint. Giacomo Nizzolo finished second, followed by Garcia Cortina and Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike). Ide Schelling came in seventh.